Oops! Wrong Baby

A possible subtitle for this post would be: Christianity–Why Be Exclusive?

A brand new mother prepared to check out of the neonatal unit of her local hospital. A nursery worker came and gently handed the baby to her. “But this isn’t my child!” exclaimed the astonished mother. “Oh, but look—don’t you see?” replied the nursery worker. “There are so many strong resemblances, and it’s a very fine child. Why don’t you just take this baby home with you?”

In similar fashion, Christians may at times be encouraged from within or without to embrace other world religions based upon strong similarities which most likely really do exist among them. Should they take these religions home with them? In answering, consider the mother in the story above. She knows instinctively that it’s not a host of similarities and agreements which are essential to her, but the core identity of her child. For Christians as well, the essential thing is not how their faith may resemble many others, but how their faith differs. The difference is Jesus Christ. A Christian who knowingly embraces any wise and noble religion that excludes Jesus Christ the crucified and risen Son of God from its core identity is like a mother who willfully embraces a strange child and calls him her own. Ultimately, her heart will break.

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